Emily Dickinson Dashes

The poetry of Emily Dickinson is one of the most recognizable of the 19th century. Dickinson’s poetry stands out because of its unconventional use of capitalization and punctuation. Her poems contain capitalized words which are not normally capitalized. Her poems are noted for the frequent use of the dash. Literary scholars have attempted to interpret Dickinson’s unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Some believe that it was merely part of Dickinson’s penmanship (Weisbuch 73). They therefore edit Dickinson’s poetry and publish them in standardized form. Others believe that the capitalization and punctuation were a conscious effort on Dickinson’s part. These scholars notice the little nuances of Dickinson’s dashes, such as whether

“I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean” (Socrates). What does it mean to be this type of poet? How can someone accomplish such success in poetry, the answer is just two words Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson spent a large portion of her life in isolation, not because she was forced to or because she was ill, Dickinson simply wanted to be alone and because of her isolation she became one of the greatest female poets of all time. Emily Dickinson set the bar high for other female poets and created some of the most renowned poems in the world. The two poems “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” and “Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant” are drastically different poems that tell two different stories, but there are some aspects that cause them to be similar: Imagery, tone, and the statement that the two poems make.

The late psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said: “The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.” This inspirational quote suggests that adversity provides people with new opportunities and can drive people to improve their life. Adversity comes in numerous forms, such as emotional, physical, and financial. Individuals have a choice to learn from adversity or allow it to break their character. However, certain types of adversity, such as severe chronic conditions or diseases, do little to improve character and the human condition. Thus, all types of adversity, pain, and suffering are not beneficial, however, most work to improve an

The tone seems reflective, as if the narrator is retelling the story over, having thought about it many times. There is one point when irony is used—the last stanza is full of confusing words that contradict each other and are certainly not what one would expect after reading the preceding line. I feel the rhetorical situation is the narrator telling a story, perhaps something that happened long ago, and reflecting on it. Dickinson’s use of dashes—though she uses them frequently in all poems—assists to the feeling of story-telling. There are a few occasions throughout the poem when the use of dashes gives the idea of the narrator pausing and adding in a little extra information, maybe something that helps the reader understand the situation more. I think the reader is having a one-on-one meeting with the narrator, though the reader is never formally or specifically addressed. I think it could be that the narrator has gone off on a bit of a tangent, and is perhaps talking almost to his or herself, and glances back to the reader every once in a while to make sure he or she is still paying attention.

Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” portrays her inner turmoil and pursuit of privacy to contribute to the poem’s theme of staying detached from society by using diction and symbols. Dickinson uses a form of  “regal diction” to drive her poem to sound elegant and smooth (Eberwein, Dickinson 100). Although her writing sounds lively, the connotations of her words bear a darker meaning. Dickinson’s use of phrases such as: “don’t tell,” and “how dreary” express a negative perception about living in the spotlight (Lines 4 and 5). Although Dickinson’s isolation was voluntary, she draws on the theme of privacy over exposure, to compel her readers that a private life has a greater appeal than a public one. Dickinson often compared her views

Two literary pieces, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by, Dylan Thomas and Because I Could Not Stop for Death by, Emily Dickinson are both poems that discuss the topic of death. While there are some similarities and comparisons between the two poems, when it comes to the themes, both poets writing styles are quite different from one another which makes each poem unique. Thomas and Dickinson both use identical figurative language devices and other literature symbolisms as they explain their main themes which contrasts the differences to the concept of death. These distinct variations between poems are apparent in both the form, and how the choice of words is used in the poems. Dickinson and Thomas have presented two different ideas on the topic and concept of death. The poems are well distinguished literature devices, they share minor similarities and differences between each other and how they present the meaning of death to a toll.

One of Dickinson's favorite modes of conveying gothic ideals, the em dash, was a frequent form of punctuation within her early pieces of poetry (“Major”). Invariably taught at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the em dash was one of the only forms of punctuation that could be completely translated between her original works, most likely being used to stress a pause at the end of sentences and bridge into the next potential thought (“Major”). But, it is known that this was not her complete intention (Poets.org). The true purpose of the em dash within Dickinson’s poetry can be portrayed as such, “In this intensely prolific period, Dickinson's excessive use of dashes has been interpreted variously as the result of great stress and intense emotion, as the indication of a mental breakdown, and as a mere idiosyncratic, female habit” (Denman). Through the inferences derived from Dickinson’s personal life, these dashes drastically change the poem as a whole. What was once presented as a common pause, may now attribute great emotional distress to the positive aspects of the poem. For example, the line “As do the Bee - delirious bourne -” (l.15) can be presently read with great exclamation. Nevertheless, one is not to mistake this burst of emotion with happiness, as but mere liberation from the chains the woman once bore. Through Dickinson’s

While reading through Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for death," the first signpost that became evident was repetition. The repetition that occurred was the term "passed". This can be identified in stanza 3, from lines 9-12, the speaker states, "We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess – in the Ring – We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – We passed the Setting Sun –" In this stanza, the repetition is so important because the speaker is emphasizing on the term "passed" to explain that she continuously seen these areas as if it were some sort of routine. This is also what makes this stanza so important because the speaker is dying while their life continuously flashes before their eyes.

I still find the periodic capitalization confusing. I can't make sense of why some words are capitalized and others aren't or if there is even purpose behind all of it (although I'm sure there is). These same elements of the poem are the very ones that I didn't include in my analysis, as I set them aside after being unable to determine their meanings. My argument could be debated on the basis that maybe Dickinson is not presenting us readers with questions at the, but with a choice. Instead of drawing parallels to humanity and its inability to choose whether it stays on Time's stream, she might just be calling out humanity and its foibles, the questions being posed to encourage change and not to just state inevitability. (Though I doubt that

According to the author, «Emily Dickinson tells the story of soldiers dying and survivors mourning in a series of fascinating snapshots ...» In fact number of Dickinson’s poems was written during the Civil war in the US, and even in those poems where war conflict was not expressly described, it can be found by considering these works in a wider context. During the article, the author quotes other scholars of Dickinson work by the meaning of war in the image of her poems. The manner of war poems writing on author's opinion is quite different and varies from emotional pain to the elegy and dramatic poetry, but in any case such poems are full of deep meaning. Dickinson’s poems that were analyzed in the article are oriented to the prospective of

The use of dashes in Emily Dickinson’s poetry is the most conspicuous indicator of her nonconformist spirit. The dashes sets her poems apart from other works of poetry and makes them interesting to read. Emily Dickinson’s use of dashes creates ambiguity in many of her poems, especially poems already addressing ambiguous subjects (1660). A good example of a poem that is confusing in subject and effective in using dashes to enhance the ambiguity is “Title Divine, is Mine.” After reading line 7, “God gives us Women -,” the understanding becomes uncertain as the next two lines are read, “When you hold Garnet to Garnet - / Gold - to Gold -” (1666, 7-9).

Although the only punctuation mark that finalizes the sentence is the dot at the end, the whole poem seems to be composed of three sentences, because the characteristic dashes in Emily Dickinson poem are able to separate the poem in more. With the help of enjambments, the run-on line, the sentences run over two or more verses (Meyer 47). Since the reader automatically inserts pauses while reading a poem, it’s stanzas and verses can be separated into sentences not only through the dashes, but also the sense, meaning, and sound. Identifiable were three sentences, which all relate to the topic of piety. The first stanza is simultaneously the first sentence, which involves the topic and reasoning of the anxiety of owning a body and soul and therefore

According to Kelly Clarkson’s lyrics of the song, “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger,”this represents that life’s trials and tribulations makes others stronger which builds character. The lyrics to this song helped me get through being bullied. Bullying can be a hard situation to go through but I learned a lot from this experience. My first experience in being bullied happened in the hallways of Grayson Elementary. I was in the corner reading Emily Dickinson's latest poetry as I was closing my book and getting ready for class there was a bunch of popular girls that began teasing me saying that I was weird for sitting by myself in a corner. I always had trouble relating to others especially my peers so I often would be by myself because

Poetry, almost as a rule, is difficult to interpret. The poet pours as much emotion, intrigue, and depth into as few lines as possible; this creates wonderfully crafted passages of verse that stand the tests of time, but it does present its own difficulties. Because the poet has so few words to utilize, they often give multiple meanings to one word, in order to increase the depth of their work. They also play with elements of poetry such as meter, rhyme, rhythm, and so on, to make their work unique amongst all the other great poetry in existence. Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous American poets, known for her deep variations from traditional poetry, especially her use of dashes for emphasis and for adjusting the meter of her poetry. Her poem 712, or “Because I could not stop for Death—“ is no exception from what modern readers have come to expect from Dickinson. This poem speaks of the narrator and her journey with a personification of Death, and the way this journey leads from the narrator being alive until after her death and her experience of immortality. It has all of the elements of poetry that Dickinson is famous for: slant rhymes, tremendous use of dashes, broken meter, and the use of capitalization for emphasis, all of which, along with Dickinson’s reclusivity from social life, combine to offer a complex poem with different levels of interpretation present in each line.

Emily Dickinson was one of the many famous American poets whose work was published in the 19th century. Her writing style was seen as unconventional due to her use of “dashes and syntactical fragments”(81), which was later edited out by her original publishers. These fragmented statements and dashes were added to give emphasis to certain lines and subjects to get her point across. Even though Emily Dickinson was thought to be a recluse, she wrote descriptive, moving poems on death, religion, and love. Her poems continue to create gripping discussions among scholars on the meaning behind her poems.